General Health and Health Self-Perception in Gambling Disorder from a ConsultationLiaison Perspective: A Systematic Review
- 1. Department of Psychiatry, Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV), Switzerland
Abstract
Addictive disorders are a significant complaint for referral to consultation-liaison
(C-L) psychiatry services, as the C-L psychiatrist is specialized in consulting patients with
general health conditions, as well as with psychosomatic disorders. Among addictive
disorders, gambling disorder is likely to become an emerging issue in C-L psychiatry.
The present systematic review aimed to examine the correlation between gambling
disorder and general health, particularly focusing on health self-perception.
A systematic review of English-language papers was performed. The articles
included in the present study reported general health or health self-perception data,
as well as a measure of problem gambling severity.
Nine studies were included in the present review. The main result we yielded is
that disordered gamblers appear to show a somewhat worse somatic health selfperception than the non-gambling population and that they were more likely to utilize
medical services. All studies concerning the relation between gambling and general
health used self-report measures and were cross-sectional in their design.
The literature seems to show a certain correlation between gambling and a worse
self-perception of general health, although the effect size was limited. We hypothesize
that at least a part of that patients presenting disordered gambling might be relatively
often referred to C-L psychiatry due to their comorbidities. The clinical implications of
the present work would point out that the consultation-liaison psychiatrist might play a
pivotal role in detection and treatment of gambling disorder.